After years of advocating for a sidewalk to be built on Fifth Avenue in Gimli, residents living in Rotary Towers were extremely pleased with what council had delivered in August.
Residents held an official ribbon-cutting ceremony with Gimli mayor Kevin Chudd, deputy mayor Kurt Reichert and Thora Palson last Wednesday morning. They were also joined by the RM’s interim chief administrative officer Valerie Unrau, the RM’s director of operations Ron Hahlweg and Palson’s daughter Anna, who helped with the ribbon.
Towers residents had taken the Express on a tour of the nine-foot-wide sidewalk on Aug. 2, a day after it was completed, and said it went beyond their expectations. The width can easily accommodate two wheelchairs passing in opposite directions, and residents joked that council might have to put a yellow line down the middle.
“I am extremely happy. This is beyond my wildest expectations. The sidewalk is lovely and it’s wide. The construction company was wonderful. And a big thank you to the mayor and councillors for approving the sidewalk and having it built,” said the Rotary Towers Residents’ Association secretary Mavis Hanneson, who along with several dozen of her fellow tenants had never given up over the years on getting a sidewalk built. They sent letters and emails to the previous and current council outlining the need for a sidewalk between Lady of the Lake Drive and Centre Street.
Some streets south of Centre have no sidewalks and some are not paved. For Rotary Towers’ residents, safety was always a major concern along their stretch of Fifth and farther south as they and other pedestrians were forced to share the road with traffic when they needed to go up to Centre to shop for groceries or do banking. Farther down Fifth, there’s residential housing with families and a rental housing complex whose residents also had to share the road with traffic.
Winnipeg-based Ellmar Contruction built the sidewalk and the company was “fantastic,” said Hanneson. “It was two weeks and it was done.”
Towers resident Beverly Einarson said she was absolutely delighted with the sidewalk, which includes flyouts to help reduce vehicle speeds and shorten pedestrian crossings, and sloping sections of pavement for people who use wheelchairs and walkers or have child strollers.
“I can’t over this state-of-art sidewalk. It’s more than I ever dreamed about. I dreamed about a regular sidewalk; I would have been happy with that. But this one is wonderful,” said Einarson. “And the contractor did a super job. I can’t compliment them enough.”
Council issued a press release on Sept. 2 saying the sidewalk is the second of its kind built in Gimli – the first sidewalk was built on Keenora Drive – and represents a forward-thinking approach to creating a “safer, more inclusive and better connected environment” for residents.
“The project reflects the RM Council’s commitment to listening, planning, and acting,” states the release. “It evolved through ongoing communication with Rotary Towers residents, whose input helped shape the vision for improved accessibility. Once approved in this year’s capital budget, the RM’s Director of Operations [Ron Hahlweg] led the initiative from a construction perspective with onsite meetings with residents to review the design.”
Mayor Chudd said the sidewalk reflects council’s vision for Gimli residents’ quality of life and ability to easily move around.
“We’re building more than sidewalks—we’re shaping a future where movement is safe, inclusive, and thoughtfully integrated into our environment,” said Chudd in the release. “This project reflects the RM Council’s long-term planning and visioning for Gimli: a community where infrastructure supports connection, mobility, and quality of life.”
